Season 4, Episode 6
“Too many variables, not enough constants.”
There was a awesome scene about a third of the way
through tonight’s episode, where Peter began to start skipping in time, first
jumping from Walter’s lab to the site of the latest fringe event, and then from
the car back to the event site so that he could gain a vital clue to figuring
out was causing all the temporal displacements. It was delightfully weird and
disorienting without being too confusing, and it perfectly captured for the
audience the feeling of being unstuck in time. I thought that this was going to
be how the rest of the episode would work, and it would grow continuously more
complicated with its time skipping, to a level of gleeful bat shit inanity.
However, most of the episode was fairly standard, as it often seemed to skirt
the more interesting idea for the sake of a more straightforward narrative.
As I stated last week, Fringe is in a bit of weird position this season since it decided
to essentially reboot itself with “The Day We Died”, and while that could have
been a game-changing event where the show would more fully embrace its
serialized elements to tell stronger stories, a la Dollhouse. But that wasn’t the case, and in fact the show seems to
have retreated even more fully into its procedural nature. At its creative
height (end of season two and the first half of season three), the show wasn’t
afraid to devote entire hours to the serialized narrative. By comparison, every
episode this season has had a standalone case of the week, including make
Peter’s return into its own case that, while certainly still ongoing, had a
certain endpoint.
Now, as I’ve said many times before, there’s nothing
inherently wrong with being a procedural, and if any show can get away with
making the standalone elements interesting, it should be Fringe. Note that I said “should”; while in the past the show has
delivered powerful punches with such stories, tonight’s episode didn’t, even
while having all the elements that would generally make for a powerful story. A
nice sense of pacing? Check. A believable sense of mystery about the latest
fringe event? Check. An unnerving story? Check A bit of fringe science born out
of love? Check. Awesome guest stars to sell those emotions? Check. Connection
to the ongoing narrative? Well….
Early in the episode, it is posited by Peter and others
that he perhaps was the cause of these time shifts, on the basis that his
disruption of the timeline was rippling outwards. There was a certain amount of
tension to this that was sorely needed, as so far the show hasn’t made it quite
clear just what Peter’s return is supposed to mean, both in terms of its effect
on the universe and to the Observers’ plans. In fact, the show has had problems
this season sketching out the story in a meaningful way so that we the audience
know exactly why these things are happening. And while it certainly wasn’t a “why”,
at least having Peter’s return affected the EWOP universe raised the stakes
just a little bit.
Or did it? Not soon after the show raised the idea that
Peter was the source of the latest fringe event, it was quickly established that
he wasn’t causing the temporal displacements, and that felt like a bit of letdown.
But then by episode’s end, it was suggested that Peter didn’t directly cause
the temporal displacements, but maybe his return does have a more general effect
on the universe as a whole. Or something; this concept was made all that clear,
and I’m not entirely sure what it means. The rubbernecking aside, while this
feels like forward movement for the season-long arc (and frankly I’ll take
whatever I can get), there wasn’t enough time spent on it to feel as if some
actual development happened.
And it also raises a larger, even more frustrating idea,
the possibility that Peter may in fact return “home”, that is somehow reset the timeline so that the two
universes go back to being separated and (this is bit selfish, really) everyone
will know and love him again. I hate to sound like a broken record, but erasing Peter from the timeline
only to bring him back again doesn’t really make any sense right now, mostly because
it hasn’t revealed anything new about the players in the universe, or offered
any hints of the same, and so for the show to tease us with the possibility that
this all might be reset just seems, well….mean.
Think of it as the first four episodes of this season,
only expanded to a larger scale. Much like they didn’t tell us anything about the
larger forces, if the show backs away from this modified version of the show
just to reset to the old status quo, it will have meant this whole move was an
act of creativity deficiency. And even if going back to the old status quo
means that the show can tell more relevant episodes, it will just mean that the
first half of season four was just a fruitless rabbit hole. (Think of it as
season five of Lost, but without even the backstory to make appearance of legitimacy.)
Now, of course there’s every possibility that the show won’t follow through
with this idea, and that Peter’s search to go back home will in fact reveal all
the forces at play. At least, that’s what I’m realistically hoping for, since I
doubt the writers are that stupid. But even so, they are deploying this setup –
whatever it’s for – in the worst possible manner.
But that’s not even the episode’s worse sin. I can
forgive misleading plot points if they end up but leading somewhere great. But
I’m not even sure where the show is leading us – or where it want us to think
it’s leading us – because there wasn’t enough time spent to flesh them out.
Excuse the pun, but the (ahem) fringe elements of “And Those We’ve Left Behind”
were the most interesting part of the whole ordeal. And I don’t just mean all
the hints we received about Peter’s role in the grand scheme of things. I like watching
Walter slowing warming up to the son he can’t rationally accept, and Peter
being forced to love a woman who doesn't love him back. All of these things are
interesting, but none of them felt like they were given their due, and it’s
been something of trend with this season. And with only one episode left this
year, I’m not sure we’re going to get the answers we need that will tie us over
until January.
Next Week: The
fall finale. Yes, really.
Quotes, Etc:
Apparently Walter has a soft spot for Newtonian
mechanics.
He also keeps rubber cement in his Spider-Man fanny pack.
Hey, Alias
fans: Raymond got the time chamber to open up for 47 minutes. Heh.
Lost fans, you got time-skipping, a Faraday box, and a
headline about the Boston Red Sox. What more do you want?
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